- On Tap in Oysterville
Fifteen or twenty years ago everyone started sucking on bottles of water like they were babies going through the weaning process. I remember going to many a teachers’ meeting where I was surrounded by colleagues who punctuated every point of discussion by vigorous slurps on their water bottles. It was borderline disgusting and somehow embarrassing.
Neither Nyel nor I ever adopted the bottled water craze. Why would we? Oysterville water is the best and at that point in time cost us less than $100 a year for all we could use. Why would we even consider spending more per gallon (or quart or cup) for water than we were spending for gasoline? And whatever was the point in attaching ourselves to a bottle like piglets to a teat? Not my idea of attractive.
Last night we watched the movie “Tapped” which we got through Netflix. I recommend it, though with a few reservations. (It definitely has an axe to grind.) The documentary takes a look at the bottled water industry and, among other things, the mining of our water supply by gigantic corporations like Pepsi, Coke, and Nestlé.
Nestlé, a Swiss company, is the largest profiteer of all. According to “Tapped,” they made 3-1/2 billion dollars from bottled water in 2008. Their modus operandi is to set up in small, rural towns where the water is free, bottle it at a cost of 6 to 11 cents per gallon and sell it for an average of $6.00 a gallon – 1900 times the average cost of tap water. The issue, says the documentary, is a fundamental human right versus corporate profit.
We were a bit confused about the question of water rights and licensing in the states which were examined (mainly Maine). There seemed to be no problems involved in a company coming in, setting up business and tapping into the same aquifer from which the residents and citizens get their own tap water. It made us wonder about the water rights situation here in Washington and, more specifically, here on the peninsula.
Overall, the film left me feeling more than ever that snake oil salesmen are still alive and well in our society. There is still a sucker born every minute and, if you do your razzle-dazzle effectively, you can sell anything – even good old every day tap water.
I drag a water-bottle around with me, but it’s filled with my own water. You would be less enthusiastic about Ilwaco water which will be brown before we see the end of summer. Our water filter makes it palitable. Although we occasionally buy bottled water in a pinch we are loathe to do it much for the reasons you mention and our concern for the environment. Even though I have taken two Brita filter pitchers to two of the classrooms where I have occasion to be, in one of them the other ladies I work with keep bringing bottles of store bought water to school every day. What a waste of money and resources!
Have your seen Food Inc yet?